| Future business leaders lend a hand to education in Ecuador
ST. GEORGE- The Dixie State College chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America PBL business club is reaching across cultures to help improve education and economics in Ecuador.
The club is launching a program called Project Awakening in collaboration with Universidad Technologica Indoamerica, a university in Ecuador, with the goal of collecting 100 computers and sending them to some 20 rural schools in the spring.
Javier Martinez, project coordinator, said there is a large class divide in Ecuador, and while wealthy children attend well-equipped private schools, other children attend schools that are largely ignored by the Ecuadorian government and are subject to class discrimination. He said computers would help those children develop the skills and knowledge to overcome those obstacles.
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-25 16:07 GMT: HSBC considers 2 bln stg sale of French retail business - report
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - HSBC PLC is understood to be considering a sale of its French retail business as part of the bank's new plans to derive 60 pct of its earnings from emerging markets, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The newspaper did not name its source, but said the personal financial services and small business banking operations in France, estimated to be worth about 2 bln stg, are thought to be on the block. Analysts believe that HSBC's businesses in Malta, Canada, Australia and Bermuda and its regional banking operations in the US could also be put up for sale. The moves comes amid pressure from Knight Vinke, the activist investor that has accused HSBC of a lack of focus and criticised its pay structure. The newspaper said it is understood that the review of underperforming businesses was launched early this year, before Knight Vinke launched its high-profile campaign.
Small businesses feel slighted in political rhetoric
Small-business owners say the 2008 presidential candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties are ignoring their issues.
A poll by American Management Services and Suffolk University shows that 66 percent cannot identify a single policy proposal targeted for the nation's 23 million small-business owners.
"The reality is that none of the current candidates have small businesses on their radar; they throw it out like some kind of pabulum," said George Cloutier, chairman of AMS, which offers services to help small and midsize businesses improve profits.
He said small-business owners as a group don't make a lot of political waves.
"You could argue that the candidates are so focused on the religious, ethnic, and social policy and civil rights groups that they are forgetting this whole huge voting bloc and ignoring it," Mr.
Review: Lenovo delivers a solid, small business laptop
When we set out to round up a handful of laptops that cost less than $1,000, we knew we had to include Lenovo. The small-business-focused Lenovo 3000 line has long been one of the best deals going if you want to buy a laptop built on the latest Intel processors and platforms. .
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